The Pittsburgh Steelers, as expected, have now restructured the contract of defensive end Stephon Tuitt, according to a Monday report by Field Yates of ESPN.
According to Yates, the Steelers converted $7.925 million of Tuitt’s 2021 base salary into a signing bonus, creating $6.34M in 2021 cap space. If Yates’ numbers are correct, it likely means that the Steelers added three voidable years on to Tuitt’s contract as part of the restructure.
Tuitt was originally scheduled to earn $9 million in 2021 and have a cap charge of $14,940,750. This restructure takes his base salary down to 1.075 million and results in him now having a cap charge of $8,600,750.
This Tuitt restructure was expected to happen and was needed because of forthcoming costs the Steelers will have for 2021 as the team still needs to afford a 16-man practice squad, a 52nd and 53rd player and have at least $6M free for start of season for in-season moves. The team still needs to get outside linebacker T.J. Watt signed to an extension as well, and that deal could cause his $10.89 million cap charge in 2021 to rise some.
